It happens. Even over a 56-game season, there will be highs and lows, hills and valleys, ups and downs…oh hell, this week sucked. The Washington Capitals, who were one of two teams without a loss in regulation time when the week began (the Florida Panthers were the other), ended the week having lost both games on the schedule in regulation and are now looking up at a pair of teams in the standings.
Record: 0-2-0
The Capitals were off to one of their best, if not their best start to a new season in franchise history with points in nine straight games (6-0-3) going into Week 4. The challenge was that they were facing a strong team to open the week in the Boston Bruins, still stinging from a 4-3 overtime loss to the Caps in the first game of their two-game set. And then, after losing to the Bruins, 5-3, the Caps faced an upstart New York Rangers team in Madison Square Garden, a difficult venue for visitors. When the Caps dropped a 4-2 decision to the Rangers, it marked the first time since Week 16 of the 2018-2019 season that the Caps played two or more games in a week without earning a point. And, the dropped from first to third in the East Division, behind the Bruins and the Philadelphia Flyers.
Offense: 2.50/game (season: 3.55 / T-5th)
It was a weak week for the offense, especially for the scoring forward lines. Five different players had one goal, and Alex Ovechkin was the only one of the five scoring from among the top-six forwards. Nicklas Backstrom was blanked on four shots on goal, as were Tom Wilson and Jakub Vrana. T.J. Oshie, moved to center with the absences of Evgeny Kuznetsov (COVID protocol) and Lars Eller (upper-body injury), had an especially difficult week, registering a single shot on goal in the two games. Carl Hagelin got one of the other goals, his first of the season, and Daniel Sprong, pressed into scoring line duty with the injuries and absences, scored the third goal among the forwards. John Carlson and Zdeno Chara recorded goals for the defense.
Eleven Caps shared in the points, Vrana (two assists) and Garnet Hathaway (two assists) the only ones with multi-point weeks. At the other end, eight Caps did not record a point in either of the week’s games, the noteworthy absences on the score sheet being T.J. Oshie, Tom Wilson, and Dmitry Orlov. Ovechkin led the club in shots on goal (12), with Carlson next in line (seven).
Defense: 4.50/game (season: 3.27 / T-23rd)
The how many was bad enough (nine goals allowed), but the how was worse. The defense could not keep the Bruins from wiping out a three-goal deficit and win, going away, 5-3. Against the Rangers, it might be forgivable to give up a goal to Ryan Strome, a decent enough player, but two is pushing things. And they allowed Anthony Bitetto, a player who had two career goals in 184 games over six-plus seasons, to score with an assist from Kevin Rooney, his first helper of the season and only his tenth assist in 103 career games.
The further one drilled down, the worse it looked. The Caps allowed Boston 63 shot attempts in total in their 5-3 loss to the Bruins, which was actually a considerable improvement over the 88 shot attempts the Caps allowed the Bruins in the first game of their two-game set. Of those 63 shot attempts Boston recorded against the Caps, 50 of them came at 5-on-5, the fourth highest total of the season against Washington. The Caps had mixed results in their game against the Rangers. They allowed 31 shots on goal, below the Rangers’ 32.4 shots per game average. And, they did permit only 39 shot attempts at 5-on-5, fourth fewest allowed by the Caps this season. However, they did it against a team that ranks in the lower third of shot attempts at 5-on-5 (386/22nd).
Goaltending: 3.58 / .887 (season: 3.03 / .905)
When we did our prognostications for the season, we didn’t even include Vitek Vanecek among them. We just did not think he would get many, if any chances with the parent club this season. But here we are, and by week’s end he started eight consecutive games. With Henrik Lundqvist having a heart condition treated and Ilya Samsonov on the shelf under COVID protocol, the Caps are Vanecek’s team for the moment. For the most part, he has taken advantage of his opportunity, but he had a difficult Week 4.
It was not that he was terrible. In fact, but for a 12-for-15 third period against Boston, he would have had a decent week. And he did have that third period (the defense in front of him left much to be desired). On the other hand, he allowed goals in five of the six periods in which he played. Only in his first period of the week, the opening frame against Boston, was he perfect, stopping all eight shots he faced. He ended the week having allowed three or more goals in each of his last four games.
Power Play: 1-for-8 / 12.5 percent (season: 34.6 percent / 5th)
It was not a good week for the power play. Eight opportunities – four against each opponent – represents something of an improvement, but one goal in those opportunities was a factor in the Caps leaving points on the table for the week. They managed only 12 shots on goal in 15:16 of power play ice time. It was not as if the Caps suffered from having the wrong players getting shots. Alex Ovechkin had six of the 12 shots, and John Carlson had four. But when you add it Nicklas Backstrom’s one shot, a player who generally sets up and quarterbacks the power play from the right wing wall, and Jakub Vrana’s one shot, what is missing is a contribution from the middle and an inability to follow up on missed chances by pouncing on rebounds or loose pucks in close.
Penalty Killing: 7-for-7 / 100.0 percent (season: 79.5 percent / 19th)
Results matter, and it was a good week for the penalty killers. They held opponents to fewer power play chances than the Caps had (narrowly), they killed off all of the shorthanded situations, and they held opponents in check in terms of shooting, allowing only seven shots on goal in 15:02 of shorthanded ice time. It was the Caps’ first perfect week of the season after three weeks of progressively worse penalty killing. In a difficult week, this was the bright spot.
Faceoffs: 58-for-111 / 52.3 percent (season: 46.7 percent / 28th)
The top line number was, by Caps’ standards, quite good. But it had an odd quality to it. Washington was very good in the offensive end of the ice, winning 22 of 37 draws (59.5 percent). Only two of eight Caps taking draws in the offensive end finished under 50 percent for the week, but one of them – Richard Panik – only took one offensive zone faceoff.
It was a different matter in the defensive zone, where the Caps won only 11 of 33 faceoffs (33.3 percent). T.J. Oshie was the only one of four Caps taking defensive zone draws to reach 50 percent, and that just barely (3-for-6). What was odd about both ends was how one player dominated the draws taken. Oshie took 19 of the 37 draws in the offensive end, Nic Dowd taking 19 of 33 defensive zone faceoffs.
Goals by Period:
The Caps played close to the vest for the first and second periods of games, but the third period was ghastly. Three goals allowed in the final frame to each opponent, an empty net goal for each among that total to account for the two two-goal losses in Week 4. On the other side, the Caps had only one third period goal for the week. As a result, the Caps finished the week with seven third period goals scored for the season, tied for 24th in the league. The six third period goals allowed doubled their season total to 12, good for a tie for 19th fewest in the league.
Year-over-Year:
The Caps have now slipped below last year’s pace in almost every category in the chart below. Among the more disturbing numbers are the 65 shots on goal differential (34 fewer shots, 31 more shots allowed), 14 fewer power play chances, and 47 fewer shot attempts at 5-on-5. These are indicative of a certain lethargy in the Caps’ play – not forcing play and pressuring defenses to make mistakes or take penalties to prevent scoring chances.
In the end…
The Caps are playing at the moment as if they were in the mid-winter doldrums after 50 games of a normal regular season schedule, not 11 games into a new season. In a strange way, they look like that club from last year that, from February 1st to the end of the abbreviated season, logged a record of 6-8-3. If this team is headed in the same direction as that team, it is going to be a long cold winter in a short, disappointing season. The NHL is a league where there is not a lot of difference between wins and losses, and the Caps need to get on the other side of that divide quickly.
Three Stars:
- First Star: Alex Ovechkin (1-0-1, minus-2, 12 shots on goal, two credited hits, passed Mike Gartner for seventh place on the NHL all-time goal scoring list)
- Second Star: Daniel Sprong (1-0-1, plus-1, two shots on goal)
- Third Star: Michael Sgarbossa (0-1-1, plus-2 (led team))
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